Hunter's Prey
by Carly86
Summary: Post-Journey's end story. After parting with his friends, the Doctor is getting targeted by bounty hunters. Slowly, he discovers that he doesn't always know what's best for others... Ten/Rose in later chapters
1. Prologue

"Do you have any information of his whereabouts?" a low, growling voice said in the dark.

A man with blue skin and red eyes stood in front of the voice's hiding place. He was visibly afraid and began to shudder when he thought about what terrible things could happen to him if he didn't deliver satisfying answers to the creature's questions.

"Negative, I'm afraid. It seems his defence shields are way too advanced for our detection systems. They can't..." He gulped. "I'm sorry...I...ehm...we won't find him w-without better equipment, I...I'm afraid."

"Quit your rambling, Dorian. Do you really think, I didn't know that already? Do I look like one of your stupid, useless race? You are wasting my time."

Dorian swallowed down the anger he began to feel at it's words. He had to think about his family, his children. "I'm sorry, my Lord. It won't happen again."

The voice gave an evil laugh. "Sure it won't... you love your wife very much after all...but back to the matters at hand: I want you to tell _her _to find the best bounty hunters in the universe. They shall bring him and his ship, preferable alive."

"But, my Lord with all due respect, how shall they find him? He could be anywhere and anywhen..."

"Questioning my intelligence again, are you? Maybe I should pay Cynthia a visit... It has been a while after all and I haven't seen your little boys for years. I'm sure they have grown-"

"No! No, please! I- I didn't mean-"

"Oh, shut up already. You are starting to get on my nerves. To answer your silly little question: he has a soft spot for the planet Earth in our time... _she_ shall tell the hunters to start there."

"O-of course, my Lord. It shall be done, my Lord."

Dorian retreated out of the dreaded room that marked his master's office. His thoughts lay with the pitiful person who soon was to become the dark one's prey.

* * *

Thousands of miles and years away, the Doctor shuddered. He had that feeling again... A storm was approaching, a one, more destructive and horrible than ever before.

And he is going to be ready.


	2. An Angel in Cardiff

"Torchwood. Outside the government, beyond the police. They detect alien lifeforms and-"

Mickey snorted. "I worked three years for the alternative Torchwood. Believe me, I got the picture."

It has been three weeks since they parted with the Doctor and Mickey decided to stay in their universe. Together with Martha he began to work for Jack two weeks ago after he was officially 'revived' by Ianto. They soon managed to be a great team and although no one will ever be able to replace Owen and Toshiko, Martha and Mickey still did a pretty good job.

Martha filled, of course, the role as their new medical scientist and Mickey, having learned a lot in his Torchwood, became their computer genius (and he is... although Jack would never ever call him that).

"Obviously not... You interrupted my speech. No one interrupts my speeches! Especially not my employees." Jack leaned back in his chair, setting his feet on his desk, looking smug as ever.

"Jack kind of loves his speeches. I guess it's some macho thing... You know feeling all high and mighty, being the alpha dog and all," Gwen said causing Ianto to burst out laughing and spilling tea all over the desk. Jack glared at him.

Ianto cleared his throat. "I'm very sorry, Sir."

"Oh, you will be," Jack said with a glint in his eyes.

"Oi! Care to tell us why exactly we are here?" Mickey began to lose his patience. He had a very interesting alien artefact on his desk lying, which he wanted to examine. He was pretty sure it was a powerful extraterrestrial weapon, dying to be inspected...

"That's what I would like to know... I have a date with Tom in an hour."

"Martha, surely my company is more enjoyable than your fiancé's? " Martha opened her mouth to speak. "No, wait! Don't answer that question. My heart wouldn't be able to bear it." Jack clenched his chest and sighed exaggerated.

"Oh, stop it and get to the point! Or did you only want to give us your silly little speech again?"

"Well..." Collective groans.

"Okay, that's it! I'm off. Later." After exchanging their goodbyes, Martha left the hub and the others exited Jack's office, ignoring his protests.

"Hey! I _am _your boss, you know?!"

* * *

Martha hurried through the hub. Tom wanted to take her to a very exclusive restaurant and she still had to get home and ready, which meant approximately thirty minutes for hair, make-up and dress. _Damn you, Jack! I will get you back for this... s_he thought when she opened the door to their 'travel agency'... only to bump right into a woman.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I was in a hurry, I-" Martha stopped when she looked into the stranger's eyes. They were a dark shade of brown and there was something very strange about them. It was like they could look far beyond her body, right into the depths of her soul.

Tearing her gaze from her eyes, Martha looked at the rest of the woman.

She was a little taller than her, had blonde hair and a very beautiful face. Another strange thing about her was that she looked somehow ageless, like a statue carved in stone, preserved for all of eternity. The woman wore a long, black coat, which covered every inch of her skin, save for her face. She even wore black gloves.

Martha's alarm bells rang. One thing was for sure: this wasn't a normal human woman.

Remembering her manners, Martha turned her gaze from the woman's body and looked again into her eyes.

"Ehm, I'm sorry. What can I do for you?"

"I'm searching for... I believe he calls himself 'Captain Jack Harkness' now. We are old... _friends._"

_Talk about suspicious..._"Jack isn't in at the moment, but you can leave a message and a way to contact you and I'm sure you will hear from him." _...especially if you are planning to conquer the Earth or something._

"Don't be ridiculous, girl. I know that he is here. I can feel him..."

"You... you can what?" Martha raised an eyebrow. Either this was one of Jack's many ex-lovers or she was really some kind of alien.

"Feel him. Every living thing has a special shine to them. I believe you humans call it 'aura'." Yep, definitely alien. "I can feel and distinguish them from another."

"You are alien..."

"As much as you are for me."

"Right... Look, do you know where you are? We are Torchwood-"

"A _secret _organisation that protects the human race from alien threats. I know about you, but I'm not a threat." The woman obviously began to lose her patience. "Can you now please go and get Jack? Just tell him that _Angel_ is here to see him."

"Angel... right. Wait a moment, I can get him from here."

Martha called the number to Jack's office, pondering what to tell him.

"Yeah?" Jack's voice sounded through the speaker.

"Jack, here is a... woman to see you. She says her name is 'Angel'." Martha heard the sound of a breaking mug, followed by a very colourful curse.

"Martha, this woman is dangerous! I want you to keep as much distance from her as possible. Don't draw your weapon. Bullets aren't working on her. I'm coming."

Martha glanced at 'Angel', who smirked in return. She obviously had pretty good ears.

"I see, he didn't change at all." The medical scientist didn't know what to make of these words but did for once as she was told and kept her distance.

Suddenly Jack came bursting through the door armed with a gigantic sword, that once belonged to the Sycorax leader.

"Jack! Ready to join the party, I see. How are you?"

"Well, I would be fantastic... if you wouldn't be anywhere near me." He turned his gaze to his friend. "Martha, get back into the hub and close the door behind you. I don't want anyone of you here."

"But Jack, I-"

"Just go. NOW!" With a last glance at the stranger, she returned to the hub.

'Angel' smiled at her retreating form. "She seems pretty nice..."

"You won't lay a hand on her, do you hear me?!"

"Hey, hey... no need to get all protective. I didn't intend to. Why should I?"

"How should I know? Maybe you get a thrill out of killing my friends." A hurt look crossed her face.

"I tried to explain it to you. I-"

"Don't give me that crap!" Jack shouted now. "Dan was our friend and you just went and killed him for money and your stupid reputation!"

"I didn't kill him for that and you would know, if you gave me a minute time to explain."

"The hell I would know! Dan was your partner, damn it! He left the agency to become a bounty hunter with you! He wanted to make more money to support his growing family and you just-"

"They are dead, Jack. They were dead long before Dan and I resigned."

"Wha- What do you mean?" He put the sword down.

"He didn't leave the time agency to support his family, he did it to avenge them."

"Avenge them from what? Who killed them?"

Angel looked down. This was the question she was afraid of. "Scavengers... scavengers from... from my planet." She turned her gaze up to him. "He killed them, but it wasn't enough. His rage blinded him and... and he did a terrible thing, Jack." Tears began to glitter in her eyes.

Jack swallowed. "What did he do?"

"He made a pact... a pact with the most terrible race in all of history..." The immortal could already assume what was coming next. "The Daleks. He told them my planet's secret hiding place and abandoned them to their fate." She wiped her now tear strained face with her glove. "I'm the last now, Jack. That's why I killed him. He was guilty like all of my targets."

"Why should I believe you?"

"You don't have to. I'm not here to rekindle old relationships. I'm here for a favour."

Jack glared at her. "What could you possible want from me?"

"Don't worry, once I told you, you will want to do it anyway. I'm here because I know that you can contact the Doctor."

Jack frowned. "How do you know that and what do you want from him?"

"There is a bounty on his head an-"

"I knew it! And I nearly believed your little, stupid story!" Jack raised the sword to her neck and growled. "The Doctor is my friend. No one touches him."

Angel sighed. Did he ever listen? "You should really learn to let people speak their mind. I don't want to hunt him down. I know that he is innocent... at least for the crimes he is being searched for." She shoved the sword tip away from her neck. "Put that thing away, will you?" Jack didn't move it an inch.

"Fine, be that way! The only thing I want from you is to warn him. He has a pretty high amount of money on his head and the best bounty hunters of the universe are appointed to his case. Well, when I say the best, I mean of course second best since I won't be after him, after all." She shot him a smug grin.

"Okay, let's say I believe you... then who put the bounty on his head? And why don't you target him, if there is that much money in for you?"

"You know my morals, I don't hunt innocents." The word 'innocent' really sounded strange in regard to the Doctor. "Besides, I don't want the last of the Time Lords dead. That would be like suicide... Concerning your other question... I can't tell you that. I'm already taking a huge risk in being here. Just give him a call and tell him to avoid Earth for a while... He should be okay on another planet and in another time. You should also keep a low profile, just in case..." She turned around to go, when Jack's voice stopped her.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Oh, I still have some business to attend to on Earth." And with that she stepped out of the 'travel agency' and walked out of Jack's life once again.

* * *

"Jack, who is she?"

Jack groaned. They followed their conversation over the monitor and Gwen could be very persistent when she wanted to get some answers... "No one. You don't have to know."

"Oh, I bloody well have to know! You were terrified when you heard her name. She is alien and you said that bullets don't work on her which means that she can be very dangerous. Tell me!"

Sometimes he really wondered, if Gwen was still in charge since the time with the Master.

"Alright already! She is Angel, an old... I suppose _friend _from old times. She is from the secret planet Tarquea and belongs to one of the most powerful races of the universe. That's why they hid their planet. They had a lot of enemies."

"What do you mean, they hid it?"

"They developed a device that made it practically invisible. Unable to see, unable to detect. You had to have the exact coordinates to find it."

"Then, assuming that she told you the truth, how could Dan know its whereabouts?" Ianto wanted to know.

"Angel took him with her to meet her family... The two were an item for a while."

"Sooo, what makes her that dangerous?" Mickey always loved to find out about other species.

"Strong telepathic powers, weak force field around her body (thus no bullets), high regenerative powers." Jack sighed. "The only way to really kill her is to chop off her head, except for extermination of course."

"Yuck! So that's what the sword was for... but wouldn't the force field protect her?" Martha tried to chase the images of rolling heads away.

"Hm... how to explain... it's a little bit like strong rubber. You can't penetrate it with a bullet. Only with very sharp objects. The field is also weaker around the neck and head, because it has to let oxygen pass."

"Another thing, Jack." She lay a hand on his shoulder. "Do you believe what she told you?"

"I don't know... I really don't but I guess it can't hurt to give him a warning. No one will know where he went as soon as he is off into time and space." Jack smiled and sat down on his desk. He began to dial the Doctor's number.

* * *

Meanwhile, a figure with golden hair stood on top of a roof, looking down on the city in front of her. A tear glistered on her cheek.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."


	3. The Prophecy

Angel chased her prey through the dark alleys of Cardiff. It was one of the usual cases: a serial killer who specialized in weak children and women. One of the victims has been the heiress of an intergalactic space cruiser company. Since the police wasn't able to get the killer, her parents instructed Angel to 'take care of him'.

It wasn't a case of 'Dead or Alive'. The family wanted him to pay for his sins with his life and Angel was ready to fulfil their wish... for the right price. She wasn't a saint but the certainty that her prey is usually far worse and the fact that she was one of the very few who could stop them, kept her going.

Angel stopped to check the criminal's aura. It was a sinister one, full of cruelty, violence and madness, and therefore easy to recognize among the normal humans' ones.

She detected him two streets away, between numerous humans. Seemed like he found shelter in a bar... using a masking device, no doubt. He wasn't exactly human and easily to spot, if the name 'Honeyface' was any indication. The Tarquean woman didn't know his face because of a mask, but she met him once and that was enough for her to detect his aura miles away.

She smiled as she continued her pursue. This was way too easy...

* * *

'Honeyface' watched the clueless humans around him. The masking device he stole from his latest victim made him look like, what this stupid people considered, 'a handsome bloke'. He already noticed what attention he received from the females of this planet. All so vulnerable, drunk and/or drugged out of their mind... searching for a little attention and distraction from their worthless lives. It would be easy... so very easy for him to take one of them to a place where they were alone, where no one would hear her screams... but no! He had to stay focused. He knew that she followed him here, it would only be a matter of time.

She was known as the best. Always catching her prey... but he wouldn't make it easy for her. His knife already screamed for her blood and he longed to kill again. It has been three weeks now, three very long weeks...

Again his gaze shifted to the countless, scarcely dressed women. He began to tremble. It was all so very-

"Tempting, isn't it?"

He nearly got a heart attack when he heard a figure beside him voice his thoughts and did a double take. It was _her._ She found him already... how was that even possible? He was disguised as a human. Trying to retain his composure, he shot her a charming smile.

"Yes, you are. May I ask what a beautiful woman like you is doing in a place like this?"

Angel flinched. A serial killer who always flirted with women before he killed them, should have better lines... "That question is easily answered: I'm here to kill an intergalactic murderer to get a nice sum of money."

The barkeeper, who happened to 'overhear' her response, shook his head in disbelief. Poor bloke... that was one hell of a rejection.

'Honeyface' blanched. She obviously knew who he was. "Yeah, right... Excuse me, I really have to..." He tried to get up, but a strong grip on his arm stopped him.

"Oh, I'm sure you don't want to go yet. The longer you stay, the longer you have."

"You are pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" It seemed pointless for him to continue the act now.

"Only because I know my strength... and I also know people like you." She stared at him now and he felt like she pierced his very soul just with her eyes. "You feel strong when you attack the weak. You enjoy to hear their pleas for mercy because only in these moments you are able to forget your own weaknesses. Now, it's time for you to face the consequences." Her eyes began to glow.

"Relive your crimes."

And he did. He saw every single murder he began in his mind. Every person he killed.

But this time he felt no pleasure but exactly that what his victims felt: fear, despair, regret, helplessness. It was terrible.

And then it stopped. He opened his eyes and found himself not in the bar but in an dark alley. Angel stood before him with a glare on her face that made his blood run cold.

"In the name of the Shadow Proclamation and Judoon task forces, I declare you guilty. Are you ready to atone for your crimes?"

'Honeyface' shot her a smug grin. "I know what you are. I thought they were just legends but it seems to be the truth... Let me tell you something about my people." He turned his masking device off and Angel realised that 'Honeyface' sounded a lot prettier than it actually looked.

He had a yellow face with black stripes and big, fang like teeth. He fixated her with his big, red eyes.

"We have the amazing ability to see the future... and do you know what we passed on? From generation to generation? A prophecy." He watched Angel taking a gun out of the depths of her coat. "Never believed it before, but since you do exist..." He grinned when she loaded her gun.

"_The end of days are coming and the last of the Tarquea will die a useless death." _She shoot and he was dead in an instant. The smug grin still evident on his face.

Angel lowered the gun. "End of days, huh?"

* * *

Music echoed through the TARDIS' console room. The Doctor sat on the jump seat, staring into space. He just saved another civilisation, another planet, but it wasn't the same. Before, he had someone to share the happiness that came with the saved people's gratefulness with but now he was alone again... and it was way too quiet in his ship.

He listened to Micheal Bublé, Donna's favourite singer at the moment, while he thought about the past again. Was Donna going to be okay? He didn't return her CDs... Did he do the right thing, when he left Rose with his double in the parallel world? Were the Daleks gone for good? Did Davros survive again?

The Doctor were so lost in his thoughts, that he barely heard the phone ringing.

He took Martha's mobile phone out of his pocket, looked at the display and groaned. He wasn't in the mood to speak with the Captain right now.

Nevertheless he answered the call. "Good afternoon! This is the automatic answering machine of TARDIS Airlines. Unfortunately we aren't in at the moment. Please leave a message after the 'beep'. _BEEEEEEP!_"

"Very funny, Doc. I can hear the music in the background."

The Doctor cursed under his breath. "What you are hearing is an extra generated sound, especially designed to fit your taste. Nothing is more important than our costumer's-"

"Doc, if you are an answering machine, then why are you able to answer my question?"

"Because I am an _answering _machine,you stupid little ape!" He heard Jack chuckle on the other side of the receiver. "Oh, dammit!"

"Hello, Doc. Not happy to hear from me, I suppose?"

"I'm sorry Jack, but..." He sighed. "Hearing from you can usually only mean one thing: trouble."

"Oh, that hurts! Can't an immortal give the last of the Time Lords a call now and then?"

"No, you can't. Now spill the beans: what's wrong?" The Doctor asked impatiently.

Jack took a deep breath. "Maybe you should sit down... You won't be happy about this."

The Time Lord groaned. "Let me guess: You slept with a Moog, didn't want to marry him afterwards and caused an intergalactic war. You should know their customs by now..."

"Hey, that only happened once... ONCE! What do you take me for?! A slut?"

The Doctor was silent for a very long time. "Well..."

"Oh, shut it! Just listen, alright?"

He explained everything that happened, including who and what Angel was and their history together.

"A Tarquean? Seriously? Oh, that's great! I thought they all perished..."

"Didn't you hear what I said? She killed a friend!"

"Yeah, but you have to know that they are very honest creatures. No matter if they are good are bad people, they are usually telling the truth. It's in their nature."

"I don't know what to think about all that right now. But back to the reason of my call: you are going to avoid Earth for a while, right?" Silence. "Doctor!"

"Do you really think I could just hide while a few of the most dangerous aliens in the universe are on Earth? No chance!" He said stubbornly.

"Do you really want to get captured or killed by them?!"

"Jack, it's possible that they know about you guys and Sarah Jane. Maybe even about Donna and her family... I won't take that chance. I'm coming over."

He turned the phone off before Jack could continue to protest. Seconds later, the whirring sound of the TARDIS materialising sounded through the Torchwood hub.


	4. Give me some 'Spock!

When the TARDIS arrived, the state of the Torchwood hub could only be described as a giant ant-hill. Gwen and Ianto ran around, searching for their guns (apparently they thought an alien invasion in the hub was unlikely and left them somewhere), Mickey came running from the direction of the holding cells (he did the cleaning up Jack wanted him to do if the buckets on his feet where any indication) and Martha appeared from the ladies (due to the interruption, she tried to dress up at work because otherwise she wouldn't make it to her date).

Jack leaned against Mickey's desk and shook his head at this spectacle. His glorious team... he decided to give them a speech again once all of this was over.

* * *

The Doctor couldn't believe what he saw, when he stepped out of his ship. Mickey lay on the floor, trying desperately to stand up again but failed miserably. Gwen and a guy in a suit (Ianto perhaps? Jack told him about that one) were obviously searching for something until they saw him and visibly relaxed. Martha stood a few steps in front of him, wearing a black dress and smeared lipstick. She had a huge grin on her face which made her look (thanks to the lipstick) a little like a clown.

Jack stood behind Martha with crossed arms and looked at his team in disbelieve. He was embarrassed, no doubt.

The Doctor grinned. He obviously made a great entrance.

"Hey, did I come at the wrong time? You know, never had good timing, me... I could fly around the planet so you could...ehm... rearrange yourselves or something. Although... on Zagon V this would be a pretty successful party, I think. Mind you, the people of Zagon were never known for good taste. Their carpets had such violent colours that they could burn your eyes out if you are looking more than five seconds at them. Not to mention those terrible-"

The ex-Timeagent groaned. "Doctor, shut up and give us a hug."

Mickey finally managed to get up and tried to gather his remaining dignity while Martha and Jack rushed into the Doctor's now open arms. He went to his old friend who in return send him a questioning gaze while he let go of his friends.

"Oh, no. I won't hug you... I'm way too manly for that," Mickey said proudly.

"Manly, huh? Weren't so manly when you lay in a heap on the floor, were you now?" The Doctor shot him a smug grin. "Still Ricky the Idiot, I see." He avoided the punch, Mickey directed to his arm and pulled him into a headlock.

Gwen and Ianto stared at them in disbelief while Jack and Martha had a laughing fist. When the Doctor noticed the staring, he pushed Mickey away and went to the pair, offering his hand.

"Hey there, we haven't met face to face, I suppose. I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you!"

Gwen shook it and said, "Likewise. Gwen Cooper. We communicated before, remember?"

"Oh, I could never forget your face!" He grimaced. "Alright that sounded greasy... Since when am I greasy? Must have been something I ate or something... The Daroni pasta last week had a bit of a-" The Doctor noticed Ianto's expecting look. "Oh, yes! Sorry. You are Ianto Jones, right? Jack told me so much about you!"

Ianto looked at Jack while saying, "Really, Sir?" His gaze returned to the alien. "I also heard much about you... though, more read than heard. Jack doesn't talk much about his past."

"Read...? Ah, yes! You worked for Torchwood London before, didn't you?"

Ianto nodded.

"Well, I hope Jack managed to rehabilitate you then..."

"Doctor, that was rude! Ianto is nothing like them." Martha glared at him, looking remarkable like her mother.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, sorry. It's just... Torchwood London is still sort of a sore spot for me." He sighed. "I lost so much on Canary Wharf..."

Mickey crossed his arms. "I still can't understand you. Why did you let her go, if you really care about her so much?"

"It's complicated, Mickey. You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

The Doctor sighed again. "She is safe there... and with me in a way. If she stayed with me, she would have left her family behind and I would have put her in danger again. It's better that way."

"You didn't ask her, did you?" Mickey shook his head. "Still thinking you know what's best for everyone... Do you have any idea how broken she was after that day on Bad Wolf Bay? And now you left her again and this time even deliberately." He glared at him. "Sometimes I really want to punch you in your face!"

"Alright, kids! Enough is enough," Jack said with upraised arms, "we have more important things to attend to." He fixated the Doctor with his eyes. "I still think you should run away... We can defend ourselves, you know?"

"Jack, you know how dangerous they are. They have connections across all of time and space. It will be a piece of cake for them to find out about you and the others... I won't take any chances in this matter."

Jack nodded. "Alright then. Ianto, call Sarah Jane Smith and Donna Noble's family. They will have to go into hiding for a while. Some of our secret facilities in Europe will be appropriate, I think." He thought for a moment. "Tell the Noble's they should tell Donna it's a journey they won or something." Jack looked at Martha and Gwen. "What about your families? Any special requests?" He winked.

"Same thing as the Nobles for my folks, I think..." Gwen answered.

Martha groaned. "My family won't believe a Lottery win, knowing about my job and all. And I don't think they will want to hide anyway... I will just warn them. Is that okay?"

"Well, we could always use force but knowing your mother... I guess it's alright. Anything to add, Doctor?"

"Huh? Oh, no. I trust you on that. We will have to find out about the bounty hunters as soon as possible, though... If they are who I think they are, we are going to be in an awful lot of trouble." He looked around the hub. "Blimey, how can you find anything in this chaos?"

"We have a system... somewhere," Jack answered with mirth in his eyes. "What do you need?"

"Reports about anything unusual in Cardiff and London. If they did their homework, it's most likely that they are already here. Also... do you have something to scan for alien tech?"

"Ah, you finally wanna use some 'Spock', eh? I found out who he really was when-" He stopped when he noticed the look on the Doctor's face and coughed. "Right. We found something two weeks ago. Probably came through the rift. Mickey, get it please."

Mickey went to his desk and took a round green shimmering object out of a metal container.

"We had something similar in the parallel Torchwood so I knew what it was," he said when he gave it to the Doctor.

"Not bad, Mickey boy! It's a detector used in the 53rd century. High advanced technology, this." He pushed a few buttons and a screen lid up. "Ah, Andromeda Software! Nice... Veeeery nice." He pushed a threatening, red button. "And here we go."

A giant hologram appeared in the hub, showing the Earth. A few yellow and red dots showed the locations of alien technology, most of them in England. The Doctor zoomed in to Cardiff. Most of the dots were on the position of the hub but seven others appeared in the city. All of them were red.

"Not good...not good at all..." Noticing the questioning looks, he added, "The yellow dots show harmless technology while the red ones stand for dangerous stuff like weapons." He looked at the others. "So, if there isn't anyone else walking around with alien weapons in Cardiff, we can assume that seven bounty hunters are already here." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Six, if your friend told you the truth and is still here," he said to Jack.

"She is not my friend, Doctor. Not anymore..."

The Doctor lay a hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't be so sure about that..."

* * *

Angel cursed under her breath. She just wanted to bring the body to her client when her wrist device detected seven arrivals of alien technology. One of them was obviously the Doctor, since it appeared in the Torchwood hub and three others were her long time rivals, no doubt.

What unnerved her were three detections that all appeared in the same place. Every bounty hunter she knew worked alone and she knew _everyone... _So,_ w_ho were they?

Deciding to finish her job first, she set her wrist computer to her client's home. Angel planned to come back later, though since she was very curious about the unknown arrivals. She already guessed that her part in this play would be greater than originally planned...


	5. Brothers, Emotions and Skin

Hello, everyone! I wanted to throw a quick thank you at the great reviewers: Mysterious Em, Alipeeps, VHunter07, glarbinator, and last but not at all least 99hearts! Thank you all!

It's my first multi part story, so I really need the feedback. :)

Please enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: Out of laziness the first one. Don't own anything. This counts for the whole story. -- laziness in its purest form.

* * *

Everyone was rushing around, hurrying to get the Doctor what he needed. Thanks to the CCTV cameras, he was able to identify two bounty hunters since he already had the 'pleasure' to meet them once. One of them was a human of the 54th century, a man named 'Blast', thanks to his knowledge about explosives. The other was 'Jeepers', a fanatic man of the Gongole race. He was well known in certain circles and is famous for his strong belief to act in the name of God.

Both were very dangerous individuals, so the Doctor didn't want to waste any time and instructed the others to get him materials for a dimensional interfragment barrier machine. He intended to catch them until he sorted out, why someone wanted to get his hands on him.

He just used his Sonic Screwdriver to repair some wires on the piece of the machine he already completed, when a familiar song broke the silence. Martha grabbed her mobile phone and excused herself to speak with Tom while the Doctor fixated Jack with a questioning gaze.

"Moonlight Serenade?"

Jack shot him a sheepish look. "She asked me, what song I use for my ring tone because she liked it." He stepped closer to the Doctor and whispered, "You aren't the only one who misses her... if I had known what a terrible stupid thing you planned to do, I would have stopped you."

The Doctor closed his eyes like he was in pain. "I don't want to talk about _her. _She is happy with the other me... that's all that counts."

"How do you know that she is happy? Was she smiling when you left her there?"

He clenched his fists. "She wasn't _smiling... _She snogged the hell out of him!"

Jack burst out laughing. "Really? She did that? Sounds to me like she wanted to get revenge on you; Doc."

"Wha- What? What makes you think that?"

"Well, she spent all this time jumping from universe to universe to find you again and what do you do? You are shoving her off with a mere copy of yourself. Rose must have been pretty pissed, if you ask me."

The Doctor turned his back to him and said, "Get back to work."

"But, I-"

"Back to work!" He said through clenched teeth.

Jack sighed heavily and did as he was told but swore to have a serious talk with him later on.

He searched in one of their many cupboards for a particle manipulator when Martha returned.

"I told him to grab my family and take them somewhere. Hopefully Mum believes him when he says, he wants to get to know them better before the wedding..."

The Doctor looked up from his work. "Oh, yeah, wedding! Lovely. When is it then?"

"Well, it was planned two weeks ago but the Dalek invasion kind of took the fun of it. We decided postpone it... there isn't a new date yet." Martha arched an eyebrow and gave him a strange look. "Why are you asking? Do you wanna come?"

"Well... I'm not really sure, if I'm honest... Weddings are pretty domestic and I don't do families anyway..." He grimaced and then turned thoughtful again. "Although, I'm a little less averse to these things in this regeneration... Do I do families now? I still don't like dinner parties at homey homes, that's for sure. But weddings... weddings are important to humans and a lot of other species... Friends go to friends' weddings... But am I going to friends' weddings...? I was at Jackie's wedding... But Jackie wasn't a friend... At least not then... Hmmm..."

"Um, Doctor?" He felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up at Martha. He knew that look... female humans normally scowled like that at him when he annoyed them... Did he annoy her? He grinned inwardly. "Doctor!"

"What? Oh, yes! Sorry! You were saying?" He asked sheepishly.

Martha groaned. "You never change, do you?" He opened his mouth, clearly to mention that he did _change_ a lot of times but was cut off by her. "No, don't, or we are never getting anywhere here... Just tell me clearly what you want. No analysing or brooding. Just tell me honestly, do you want to come or not?"

"Weeell, considering my currently personal-" He noticed her look and grinned widely. "Martha Jones, I would love to come!" He said snickering and turned back to his tinkering.

Martha looked at Jack. "This whole talk.. He wound me up, didn't he?"

Jack laughed. "Yep! Martha Jones, you just got 'doctored'." Noticing her questioning look, he added. "Victim to his endless, meaningless rumbling. Happens to the best of us." He patted her shoulder and gave the particle manipulator to the Doctor.

Martha groaned again. This was going to be a very long day...

Angel got the sudden urge to bang her head against the wall. It just couldn't be... they weren't even bounty hunters so why were they hired?

Before her stood the Beloni brothers, the most stupid and greedy triplets, the universe had to offer. They did everything for money and given their little brainpower, they were often asked for things like stealing and murdering. They had a pretty high bounty themselves, so why did the client hire them? It would be a huge scandal if the public found out about it... Not to mention that they were up against one of the most intelligent men in the whole universe...

Given their brutality, this could either be a very interesting thing to watch or go terrible, terrible wrong... She couldn't let them get the Doctor or his ship, much less both.

With a heavy heart, she decided to pay Jack another visit.

"HA! That's it! A truly beautiful dimensional interfragment barrier machine!"

The Torchwood team looked disbelieving at the patched up machine, held together by wires, glue and... was that bubblegum?

"Well, what do you think? Aren't I brilliant?" He asked enthusiastically.

They answered with an orchestra of 'ehm', 'eh', 'well...' and something that sounded suspiciously like 'shwom', which was unlikely because it was the Untarian equivalent to 'I want to steal your pants, wear them on my head and ran through the streets like the day I was born'... Amazing what an Untaria could say in one word, but it didn't exactly fit in this context.

The Doctor's face fell. "You don't like it?"

After another swarm of undefinable words, the Doctor threw five little, round objects to their feet and switched the machine on. A barrier of golden light appeared around the Torchwood team and held them prisoner.

"Well, like it now?"

"I would love it, if I weren't _in_ it, Doctor... It gives me a queasy feeling." Jack clearly looked uneasy.

The Doctor's face lit up. "It works, then? I added another extra. Multitude emotion destabilisator. Makes you go through numerous feelings in a very short time. A little bit like human women when they have their period, I think." He noticed Martha's and Gwen's faces and suspected that they are currently experiencing 'anger'. "It's to keep the prisoners from making plans for their escape. Not that they would be able to escape my beautiful little device, though." He grinned proudly but turned around abruptly when he heard a voice.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Angel leaned against the doorway, taking in the spectacle that played before her..

The Doctor wished not for the first time that day to have a camera. Everyone reacted differently.

Martha and Gwen growled and looked like they wanted to tear her to pieces. Jack cowered trembling on the ground and Ianto laughed like he just heard the funniest joke in the universe.

When Mickey began to cry like a baby, the Doctor was relieved that at least _someone_ was acting normal.

"How did you come in?" The Doctor asked while switching the barriers off.

"Easy, that. The security system is a load of rubbish." She arched an eyebrow. "You neither asked me who I am, nor do you seem to be surprised. May I ask why?"

"'Course you can!" He grinned at her. "You have to be Angel. Recognised you right away. I travelled a lot and heard a lot. Especially about your race... Your people truly were the stuff of legends."

Angel smiled back. "Thank you. I guess the clothes gave me away, eh? You probably heard about our skin..."

"Yep, quite unique that. Only a few races in the universe have a skin like yours."

"Care to tell me, what you are doing here? Again?" Jack apparently recovered from his emotional roller-coaster.

The Doctor stepped between them. "Now, Jack. Don't be rude!" He paused and rubbed his shin. "Did I really just say that? Me? Really?"

"I'm not here to fight, Jack. I want to help you."

"And what, dare say, do you want to do to help?" The Doctor hated it to be ignored.

"Ah, I could think of a _lot _of things to help you with." She smirked and the Gallifreyan was confused. Either his brilliant mind was in the gutter or Jack really deserved the title of intergalactic Casanova. He couldn't possible have managed to...?

A cough reminded the three that they weren't alone in the hub.

"Not that I want to pray into anything, but... were you two... you know, more than friends?" Gwen asked.

Angel laughed. "Dear God, no! I'm way too hot for him."

"Quite full of yourself, aren't you?" Ianto asked angrily.

The Time Lord grinned. That got to be interesting...

"Ianto, she is right. Angel is literally too hot for me, or any human for that matter." Jack gestured to Angel. "She isn't covering her body out of modesty. She does it to keep her skin from directly touching anyone and anything. Her average body temperature is one hundred degrees."

The other humans gaped while the Doctor's grin widened. He loved it when these little apes experienced something... well, alien... like that. The wonder in their eyes always amazed him.

Martha recovered first. Probably because she met more alien lifeforms than the others. "But I thought you have been together with this friend of yours? Dan?"

Angel closed her eyes. The memory obviously pained her. "Yeah, but we were... we loved each other. That was all that counted for us... at least for that moment. Our relationship broke later, anyway..."

"So you never touched? Kissed?" Martha couldn't imagine, not to be able to touch Tom.

Angel nodded. "At least not skin to skin. Wasn't easy for us..." She smiled wistfully. "Guess our relationship was impossible from the start." She looked up and clapped her hands together. "But enough of these sentimental things! I've got some very important information for you."

* * *

Alright, two questions: Is the pace, the story is going at, alright? Not too fast, not too slow? Enough description?

Thank you for reading and please review! :)


	6. The Hunt

Sorry, this took a while... I just wasn't satisfied with this chapter (and still aren't... I'm rubbish at fighting scenes) and we are going to near the big showdown now...

A flower is going to appear pretty soon ;)

Please review!

* * *

"The Beloni brothers? How come I never heard of them?" The Doctor hated it when he didn't know about something or someone.

"Well, they aren't exactly well known throughout the universe. In general, they are some thugs who like to kill and torture. They are often hired by criminals to do their dirty work, but not at all professionals in bounty hunting... at least as far as I know." Angel frowned. She had often played with the thought of trying to catch them but alone it was nearly impossible, since they had a very strange ability.

"You said they weren't the brightest of people... what makes them that dangerous then?"

"The impossibility to ambush them for a start. They are telepathical connected. What one sees and hears, hear and see the others, since they constantly read the thoughts of each other."

Jack grunted. "With other words: You can't catch them alone. Is that what you want? Using us to catch another prey and take the money?"

Angel shook her head. "I have more money than I can count. This isn't about that and you know it! I just can't let you walk into their trap..."

"Oh, please! Don't act like you care about us! You have always be-"

The Doctor lifted a hand and interrupted him. "I think that's enough. We have work to do and need every help, we can get."

Jack glared at him. "Fine!" he practically screamed and walked into his office, slamming the door behind him.

Angel shrugged. "That went better than I thought." Noticing the stares of the humans, she asked, "What?"

Muttering something about strange alien behaviour, they went back to their respective tasks.

Angel and the Doctor grinned at each other. Humans were so easy to tease.

Half an hour later, they got information about the other head hunters. Angel described the appearance of her most 'talented' rival and based on that, the Torchwood team scanned the CCTVs in places where alien tech had been detected.

Angel chewed on her lips. This wasn't going to be easy. 'Cat', like the woman on the screen liked to call herself, was extremely fast and strong... Nothing a human or Time Lord could handle. She sighed. Seemed like she was going to be _her_ opponent.

"Listen, I'm only saying this once. No one is going anywhere near this woman. You wouldn't be able to last a second against her..."

"And what are we supposed to do then? Waiting until she found the Doctor?" Jack was back from pouting and obviously ready to pick another fight.

"No." Angel regarded him with a stern look. "I'm going to take care of her."

Jack froze in his track and stared at her. "You can't be serious! A bounty hunter attacking another one? They are going to kill you!" With 'they' he meant the Shadow Proclamation. They had laws against this in order to keep the competition going.

"It doesn't matter." She turned around and took one of the gadgets, that held the humans captive before, threw it once in the air and caught it again.. "I'm borrowing this."

She went to go to the door but was stopped by Jack's voice again. "Angel." She turned around to look at him. "Be careful."

Smiling a brilliant smile, she nodded and left the hub.

Jack felt the Doctor squeeze his shoulder. "Told you so." Turning to the others, he made a flourish gesture. "Alright then! No time to hang around. Alon-... Wait..."

He stopped short and turned to look back at Jack. "Ever thought of recruiting someone named Alonso?"

* * *

'Cat' sniffed in the air. She smelled time and space, compassion and mercy... The Time Lord had to be near... And then there was another smell in the air. Heat and guilt paired with sorrow... She knew this smell sooo very well.

"Helloooo, sweetheart! I know, you are here... Playing hide and seek , are you?" Her voice was cruel and scratchy, nothing ever heard on earth.

"I can assure you... I would never deliberately seek you." A voice came from an dark alley. Angel stepped out of her hiding place and narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

Cat laughed. "What a shame, what a shame. I can guess why you are here, though... Seeking the Time Lord instead, eh?" She sniffed again. "No... you already found him, haven't you? Why are you still here then? Where is he?" Cat hissed and at once took a fighting stance.

"Where you won't find him."

Cat arched her back like the animal she named herself after. "Changed sides, did you? And what do you want from me? Kill me?"

Angel shrugged. "That depends entirely on your cooperation."

The other woman smirked. "Then try to catch me, Missy!" She jumped at building's wall and climbed up effortlessly.

Angel pouted and folded her arms. "Not fair! You couldn't do that before... Had a quick tour into the gene laboratory again, eh?"

She heard a laugh and running footsteps. Sighing, she searched for the nearest fire escape stairs and followed her with an amazing speed. She found Cat on the other side of the roof.

"Come on, now! Where is the fun in running away?"

With a smug grin Cat bare her teeth and leapt at her. Angel reacted quick enough and kicked her away. Hissing, the other woman ran back to her and attacked with her fists and claws.

Angel countered every assault and hit her a few times.

After a while, Cat leapt away panting heavily and visibly frustrated.

"Why the hell are you doing this?! You are one of us! What is in it for you?"

"Salvation." And with that, she activated the barrier device, she threw at Cat's feet while she was distracted.

Cat cried out and tried to get free but stopped when she began to have a laughing fit.

Angel chuckled. "Never thought I would see you like this. The Doctor has quite an interesting method of catching enemies..." She winked at her and turned around. "I'm gonna let you free when he is safe, kitty."

* * *

Meanwhile, the Doctor and the others were able to catch 'Blast', who apparently tried to blow a building up in order to catch their attention.

The Doctor used his fantastic gob and talked in a frantic speed about several explosives he came across in his journeys and 'Blast' listened attentively to every word he said. Jack used the time to catch him in a barrier and watched very interested how 'Blast' threw a temper tantrum.

"That was waaaay too easy..." Jack said disappointed.

"Don't complain," the Doctor answered and Jack didn't when they came face to face with 'Jeepers', who was way too creepy for his taste.

He nearly broke Matha's and Gwen's necks because of their 'sinful nature'. That was enough for Jack to lose his temper and he began a fist fight with him, while the Doctor positioned the barrier device.

"Jack, get back!" He did and the Time Lord activated the device.

"Great! That's two down. Three if Angel managed to get this Cat person... You alright there?" the Doctor asked Martha and Gwen who rubbed their sore necks.

"Peachy," Martha said sarcastically and glared at him.

"Brilliant!" The Doctor beamed at her and she groaned. Sometime his chipper side could be _very_ annoying...

Suddenly, Jack got a call from Ianto. He touched his earpiece and listened attentively.

After that, he looked at the Doctor and grinned. "Angel made it. She asks if we need her help."

"Sure do," the Doctor said and stared at something behind Jack. The immortal turned around and looked into the faces of the Beloni brothers.

Jack jumped back while telling Ianto about their situation. The brothers laughed at them.

"So, you do have little friends, don't you, Doctor?" They said this in unison, confirming what Angel told them about the trio.

They began to disperse in the alley, while never leaving the Doctor with their eyes. Jack and the others situated themselves around him.

"What the hell are you doing?" the Time Lord asked incredulously.

"Keeping you safe."

They drew their weapons ready to defend themselves but the brothers just laughed.

"You are just little children for us... and we love children. Their bodies break so easily..." they said nastily.

Gwen choked. "That's disgusting!"

The trio snickered and pulled long knives out of their pockets. They apparently preferred medieval methods.

"Now... you don't really want to use those things, do you?" The Doctor tried to step forward but was stopped by Jack's arm and sighed. "I mean, come on! I know that you need me alive. Otherwise, I would be dead already, seeing that you are experts in breaking things and... such."

The three idiots seemed to be more pleased than they should be to get a compliment like that.

"We get more money when you are alive, but the most important thing is your ship."

"My ship? What could your clients want with my ship?"

"We don't care. None of our business."

"Alright then... since you obviously want more money, I'm still walking and talking after all, you would surely like to make a deal with me."

"What deal?" they huffed. Killing was much more fun than talking to them, after all.

"Weeeell, you let my friends go without a scratch and I'm coming with you like the good little Time Lord, I am."

The others began to protest at once, all telling him where he can put this deal of his.

"Quiet!" he screamed and hold his hands up. Everyone shut up at once. "Ah, that's better! Sorry, but you won't have a say in this... Either I have a little chat with the one who wants to capture me, or this would never stop."

"Alright, then. But I'm coming with you," Jack said after a while.

"And me, too!" Angel stepped out of an alleyway.

"Are you two sure?" They nodded and the Doctor turned to the brothers. "So, what is it gonna be? Deal or no deal?"

"Deal," they answered, looking peeved given the lack of blood this 'mission' brought with it.

The rest of the Torchwood team looked sadly after them while the trio escorted their friends away.


	7. Reunion and Revelations

One quick thing: I forgot to mention that the temperature scale, I used for Angel's skin was celsius. So her temperature would be 212 ° F!

Thanks to Mysterious Em for pointing that out! I wanted to say it in the previous chapter but forgot it at first and then wasn't quick enough to change it .. Sorry!

Well, on with the story!

* * *

Martha looked at her team members. "Are they going to be okay?"

"Don't worry. Jack won't let anything happen to the Doctor and he himself can't die..." Gwen smiled reassuring at her.

"Yeah, but there are worse things than death..." Martha thought about Jack's time on the Valiant. Her sister told her how he had been tortured and killed by the Master.

"And the Doctor has a talent for attracting trouble..." Mickey added.

Gwen looked at them with unbelievable trust in her eyes. "They are gonna be okay."

* * *

"Where are you taking us?" the Doctor demanded to know.

The brothers sniggered. "The prey thinks, it's in charge."

"Wrong," Angel said, looking smugly at them. "You accepted a trade which makes you to business partners and not hunter and prey." She shook her head. "Amateurs."

They snorted. "Bounty hunting is boring. Too much talking, too little blood."

"Well... that makes you to _really_ stupid apes, then." They didn't reacted to the Doctor's insult and just kept walking. "_Where_ are you taking us?"

"Teleportation chamber. Now stop talking."

Jack laughed. "Don't ask the impossible of him."

"Oi! I _can_ be silent, if I want to!"

"Yeah? Prove it!"

The Doctor shut his mouth and began to fiddle nervously with his fingers. "See? I can!"

"Doc... that had been 13 seconds."

"15! And you didn't say for how lo-"

"_Silence!_"

The Doctor looked peeved at the extraterrestrial humans. "What about my ship, then?"

"Later. Securing the Time Lord is priority."

He narrowed his eyes. "Who _exactly_ is your client?"

They just laughed evilly in return.

_Well... that can't be good... _the Doctor thought.

* * *

They needed half an hour to reach the transportation chamber. It looked remarkable like the Sontaran one with a little alteration here and there.

It was positioned in a big storehouse near the docks. They stepped into it all at once and one of the Brothers pressed a few buttons. The teleportation felt a lot like a roller coaster ride. It made the Doctor's stomach turn and he suddenly knew again why he tried to avoid teleportation of all kinds. The length of their journey told him that they were going a very long way and he tried desperately not to think about the fact that his body was currently nothing more than atoms.

It suddenly stopped and he got the feeling of his full body back. Swaying a little, he looked sidewards and noticed with dismay that Jack and Angel seemed not to be affected at all.

The Doctor looked around and noticed that they were standing in a huge hall... which he actually knew.

"_No way!_"

"Hello, Doctor."

He swirled around and gasped when he saw the voice's owner.

Before him stood the Shadow Architect.

"What the hell is going on here?!" he screamed, feeling angrier with every second.

Jack looked confused. "Doctor, I know this place! It's the Shadow Proclamation... But that can't be right. They wouldn't hire outlaws... they _can't_ hire outlaws."

The Brothers laughed and stepped back into the teleportation chamber to get the TARDIS. The Doctor moved the her before they went to catch the hunters and already told them where she was.

It was then that he noticed the empty look in the Architect's eyes. He snipped his fingers in front of her face and she didn't move a muscle. He looked around at the other people, member's of the Architect's race and Judoon, and all had the same vacant look.

"Blimey... this is bad. _Really_ bad..."

Jack turned to him. "What? What is it?"

"Their minds are being controlled... by an unbelievable strong telepath or a scientific genius... Either way: someone managed to infiltrate the Shadow Proclamation."

The immortal stared at him. "But that's impossible! Someone would have noticed..."

The Doctor shook his head. "Who knows how wide this goes..." He groaned. "I should have _known, _it would turn out like this! I thought it would be someone I upset... You know, blowing something up like a planet, home, galaxy, breakfast... whatever! But _noooo _it had to be bigger again! Some maniac who tries to conquer the universe or something."

Jack gaped at him. "Doctor... just how many enemies did you make in your life?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Lost count. Angel-" He turned to her. "They wanted to hire you too, didn't they? Didn't you know who it was?"

"Well-" She was interrupted by the sudden movement of the Judoon. They stepped behind them and the Architect turned around.

"Follow me." She said and stepped forward without looking back.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Well then... time to face Mr Egocentric, isn't it? Alons-y!" he said and together, they followed the controlled woman.

After a while, they reached a big wooden door. A little man with blue skin and red eyes stood in front of it.

His eyes widened when he saw Angel. "What are _you _doing here, Angel? Don't you have work to do?"

"Dorian, I-"

She was interrupted by Jack, slamming her into the wall. "You are one of them! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!"

"Jack, let me explain. I-"

His grip on her tightened and she gasped for air. Just when the Doctor wanted to step in, a low, growling voice sounded from out of the room behind the wooden doors.

"What is this commotion? Dorian! Bring them in."

Dorian shuddered and looked at them with pleading eyes. "_Please_, come with me."

Reluctantly, Jack let Angel go and stepped together with the others into the room.

Inside, it was pretty dark and empty. The only furniture being a big, heavy desk and an executive chair, back turned to them, the room had the atmosphere of a forbidden and menacing place. On the left side stood a female figure which looked completely out of place with her blonde hair and pink skin.

The Doctor gasped when his eyes finally adjusted to the sparse light. The woman had brown, empty eyes and features so familiar that his hearts clenched.

"It can't be... Rose?!"

Upon his incredulous and distraught reaction, the figure on the chair laughed cruelly.

"Doctor, Doctor, Doctor... we finally meet."

The Doctor didn't intend to let him continue. He suddenly broke into a run, trying to get to Rose and keep her away from this madman. After a few steps, he collided with an invisible wall and was thrown back to the ground. Jack was at once by his side and helped him back to his feet.

The figure laughed again. "I'm not stupid, I'm afraid... I know you well enough to anticipate your behaviour at the sight of your love."

The Doctor swatted Jack's hand away and clenched his teeth. "Who the hell are you?!"

The chair whirled around and he couldn't believe what he saw. "No... oh Rassilon, no..."

* * *

CLIFFHANGER!

God, I'm mean... XD

From the beginning, I died to write this chapter. A little bit shorter than the others, but I had to end it there, sorry!

Please review! Come ooooon! You know, you want to! ;)


	8. Friend or Foe?

The Doctor looked into the face of... himself.

"Hello, Doctor. It has been a while... for Rose and me at least." His double stood up and walked around his desk, still staying behind the protective shield.

"Ooooh, I know what you are thinking now," He pointed to his head. "'Is he the Valeyard?', 'Why did I leave Rose with him?', 'Did he hurt her?' yadda yadda yadda...Well, the answer to your first question is easy: No, I'm not the Valeyard... Not yet."

Suddenly, all the pieces fell in place for the Doctor. "That's why you want the TARDIS... You want to look into her heart!" His double nodded and the Doctor's blood began to boil. "Are you completely mad?! No one is meant to do that! It's too dangerous!"

The other one shrugged. "I don't care! There is only one thing I still care about..." He looked over at Rose and sighed. "She didn't accept me... Apparently, I wasn't Doctor-ish enough... But all of that will change!" He began to grin madly. "I will become a full fledged Time Lord again, make Rose into a Time Lady and then let go of the vortex. I will regenerate, true, but still have twelve other regenerations. And after you watched me doing that, I will make sure, you die a slow and painful death! Of course, I have to play our 'previous' meeting out, once I have become the Valeyard... Can't have a paradox destroy my universe, after all..."

"You really _are_ mad! Do you think Rose could ever really love you?!"

The double grinned. "On the beach, I was practically you... just human and without a TARDIS and she didn't want me. So, I'm asking you now: What is it exactly, she fell in love with?"

The Doctor stayed silent. He didn't have an answer to that... but Jack had.

He stepped up and lay a hand on his shoulder. "It's your heart, she fell in love with, Doctor. Rose is a very smart woman... of course she realised that he isn't like you. Believe in her!" He took another step forward and glared at the other Doctor. "What have you done to her and all of these other people? I swear, if you touched her, I will kill you in the most painful way, I can come up with!"

The Doctor looked shocked. He didn't even think about that possibility... But the human Time Lord just laughed.

"Don't worry, I think it's gonna be much more enjoyable when my future bride can think for her own again."

The Doctor's face darkened. "That won't happen. I will stop you!"

"I would love to see you try. Judoon! Take them to prison and strip the Doctor of his coat and jacket... Can't have you use your little tricks, I know oh, so well." He winked at him and went back to his desk. "Oh, and bring the TARDIS keys to me as soon as you find them."

Jack tried to fight against the alien rhinos but soon realised that he stood no chance. Suddenly, he noticed that someone was missing. "This treacherous, little..."

The Doctor looked at him. "What?"

"Angel is gone. Must have gone off to get paid."

The double laughed again.

* * *

Angel took the money from Darius. "Is the TARDIS already here?"

"Y-yes, the Brothers just a-arrived with it."

"Darius, your stuttering got worse again, didn't it?"

He nodded his head sadly. "Y-yes, he j-just gives me the c-creeps... C-controlling all of th-this people... W-why are you w-working for him? I th-thought, y-you rejected the o-offer?"

"Change of mind. It's a lot of cash, after all."

"B-but he is evil."

She shrugged. "Maybe I'm evil, too? Can I use the archive before I go?"

"O-of course. Y-you still know the w-way?"

"Sure, get on with whatever you are supposed to be doing."

Angel left the room, one hand in her pocket. Darius didn't notice her stealing his keys... neither did the Doctor and Jack. She had to find a save place for the TARDIS keys in case someone caught and searched her. She hadn't got a clue of what they could want to do with it, but she was sure it couldn't be good.

Angel stepped through the large hallways like she owned the place. She knew it was the best way to avoid raising suspicion, a fact she learned in her years of hunting.

Looking at every door on her way, she finally reached one with an highly advanced security system. It even had a DNA scanner.

_The higher the protection, the greater the treasure_... She took one of her gloves off, increased her body temperature (a trick, her old father taught her) and put her hand on the scanner.

The system overheated and the door opened with a click.

Angel shook her head in disbelieve. _They never think about that one... _

She went into the room and found a huge machine with a seat in the middle. A helmet hang over the chair.

"What the _hell _is that thing?" she thought aloud and cringed when she heard a noise from the hallway. Angel ran out of the room and closed the door behind her, praying no one will notice the melted metal. After putting her glove back on, she went further down the hall, acting like the picture of innocence.

That machine had to be important, so she made a mental note to keep it in mind.

* * *

"LET US OUT!" The Doctor rattled on the bars, screaming on the top of his lungs.

"You can't shout the cell open, you know?" Jack asked while leaning against the wall.

"At least I'm doing _something_!" he snapped at him and continued his assault on the bars. He felt strangely exposed without his coat and jacket, which didn't do anything for his already strained nerves.

He suddenly noticed Jack glaring at him. "What?"

"You said, I should trust her... give her a chance..."

"Jack, we don't have _time_ for this! He could be opening the TARDIS right now..."

"You said that maybe I was wrong, maybe she told me the truth about Dan."

"Jack, I-"

"Don't 'Jack' me! I knew, I was right! I knew that Angel was a treacherous, stupid little piece of-"

"You might want to _not_ finish that sentence." Angel stepped out of the dark, holding the dangling keys in front of her.

Jack stared at her. "I bloody love you!"

She chuckled. "You better not... wouldn't want to burn your best parts... but... does that mean, you trust me?"

He coughed and avoided her eyes. "Let's talk about this when everything is over."

The Doctor, who had watched the two with unhidden amusement, finally grew impatient. "Open the doors, will you? We have to keep _him_ away from the TARDIS."

Angel made a placatory gesture with her hand and went to open the cell. "Don't worry about that. I stole your keys before they caught you and hid them in the archive. They are in the Face of Boe's memoirs."

"The Face of-" Jack began but was interrupted by the Doctor.

"You stole the keys?!" He shook his head. "Never mind, we have to find a way of stopping this mind controlling thing of my double."

"I found a strange machine in one of the rooms... Maybe he uses it to increase his brain waves," Angel said while Jack and the Doctor stepped out of the cell.

"Excellent! Alons-y, gang! Ehm... team? Group? Ah, whatever!"

Jack and the Doctor found their clothes next door, as well as two stunned Judoon ("Had to use a stun gun, sorry."). After getting dressed they grabbed two brown hooded robes. They were from a very religious race, that worked for the Shadow Proclamation. As long as they walked stiffly and grunted every time when someone talked to them, Jack and the Doctor were able to walk undetected through the halls.

Angel showed them the room and the Time Lord's eyes widened in astonishment. "That guy is bloody brilliant! Well... he is me so that was to be expected."

"Ever heard of the word 'modesty', Doc?"

He grinned at Jack. "Nope, and neither have you, Mr I'm-too-sexy-for-my-shirt."

"Point taken," Jack answered, grinning back.

"Excuse me, but who is this person anyway? I never got to see his face..."

The Doctor turned around to look at Angel. "That would take too long to explain now... All you have to know for the time being is that he is a human with a Time Lord brain and... and my face."

Angel arched an eyebrow. "Is that even possible?"

"Yep," he answered, popping the 'p'. "Alright then, I need you to stay here. If we destroy the machine now, my double will realise it at once, since Rose is with him. We can't risk that the escapes with her. Take these-" He gave her two little earplugs. "-and you will be able to hear me and vice versa. You will have to destroy the machine when I tell you to do it."

"_How_ do you want me to destroy it?"

"Oh, right!" He pulled a huge bomb out of his coat.

Jack's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Why the hell do you carry something like that around?!"

The Doctor pouted. "It's handy..."

The ex-Time agent groaned. "Rose was right with that explosion communicating thing..."

"Oi! I-"

"BOYS! Saving the universe? Ringing any bells?"

The Doctor coughed. "Right, here are bomb and trigger. The explosion won't be that big but you will have to leave the room... Otherwise, it could become dangerous for you."

Angel nodded and Jack and the Doctor left the room. She suddenly got a very bad feeling when they walked away...

* * *

Mysterious Em: Sorry, not psychic, no world domination.But you don't really wanna pull a 'Master', do you? We all know how well THAT went :P

Alright, one more chapter + epilogue and that's it :)

Thanks for reading and please press the nice review button! It's lonely :(


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